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Tuesday, 7 July 2015

Mercedes-Benz AMG GT S DTM Safety Car

Mercedes-Benz AMG GT S DTM Safety Car

A new Safety Car celebrates its DTM premiere: at the second DTM race
at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, the Mercedes-AMG GT S was deployed for the
very first time. The new sports car will help to ensure maximum safety
on the race track in the world's most popular touring car series. In
technical terms, the 375 kW (510 hp) eight-cylinder sports car is for
the most part the same as the series production vehicle - just like its
counterpart from the FIA Formula 1 World Championship™, the Official
Safety Car.
In its road-going guise the Mercedes-AMG GT S has
turned heads since its market launch in March 2015 and now the sports
car is also taking to the DTM stage. The new season of the German
Touring Car Masters (DTM) got under way during the first weekend of May
in Hockenheim. The second DTM race taking place at the EuroSpeedway
Lausitz at the end of May will see the Mercedes-AMG GT S make its first
appearance as the official Safety Car. As part of the DTM, the three
manufacturers regularly switch their Safety Cars, meaning that the GT S
will also be deployed at the fourth race in Zandvoort, Netherlands and
at the final race in Hockenheim.

At the wheel of the official Safety Car will be racing driver Jürgen
Kastenholz (47). He takes to the track when dangerous situations, such
as an accident, extreme weather conditions or other incidents make it
necessary for the vehicle to be deployed. The objective is to achieve
maximum safety for the drivers, spectators and track marshals. After
receiving a radio message from the race organisers, the Safety Car takes
up its position at the head of the DTM field and guides the cars around
the track until the normal course of the race can be resumed once more.

AMG sports cars also feature as the Official Safety Car in Formula 1®
The
Mercedes-AMG GT S replaces the previous Safety Car, the C 63 AMG Coupé
Black Series, which saw active service in the DTM from 2012 to 2014. As
the second sports car independently developed by Mercedes-AMG, the GT S
features a virtually identical configuration to the Official Safety Car
being deployed at all of the 19 races of the 2015 Formula 1® season.
High cornering speeds, dynamic bursts of acceleration and fast lap times
- the profile of requirements is a demanding one. The ultimate goal is
to guide the powerful 360 kW (490 hp) DTM touring cars safely around the
circuit. In doing so, the Safety Car must not drive too slowly, in
order to prevent the tyres and brakes cooling down too much and the
engines overheating.

To face up to such a hard job on the race
rack the GT S boasts ideal qualifications: the front mid-engine concept
with transaxle, the V8 biturbo engine with dry sump lubrication, the
dual clutch transmission and the sports suspension with aluminium
double-wishbone axles provide the basis for fast laps on the race
circuit. Excellent driving dynamics are innate in the genetic make-up of
the Mercedes-AMG GT S: the intelligent aluminium lightweight design
guarantees not only a low vehicle weight but also a low centre of
gravity for the vehicle and an advantageous weight distribution of 47 to
53 percent between front and rear axle.

Drivetrain matches that of the GT S road-going version
The
drivetrain of the Safety Car is identical to that used on the
road-going version of the AMG GT S. With a maximum output of 375 kW (510
hp) and peak torque of 650 Newton metres, the 4.0-litre V8 biturbo
engine guarantees high-end performance: the GT S accelerates from a
standing start to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds and attains a maximum speed of
310 km/h. As music to the ears of the fans in the stands and in front
of their TV screens, the GT S is fitted with a modified Performance
exhaust system for an even more striking AMG V8 engine sound which is
predestined to give spectators goose bumps.
The Mercedes-AMG GT S
clearly has race track performance in its genes, as only a small number
of modifications were required to transform it into the DTM Safety Car.
The AMG SPEEDSHIFT DCT 7-speed sports transmission corresponds entirely
to the series production unit, for example. The AMG DYNAMIC PLUS package
with which the Safety Car is equipped is optionally available to any GT
S customer for a further increase in driving dynamics. It comprises
dynamic engine and transmission mounts and a specific engine application
in "RACE" DYNAMIC SELECT transmission mode and in manual transmission
mode "M". The package also includes tauter spring and damper tuning,
more negative camber at the front axle as well as an adapted
speed-sensitive sports steering system. The performance steering wheel
in black DINAMICA microfibre and yellow highlights in the instrument
cluster round off the AMG DYNAMIC PLUS package.
The Safety Car
runs on particularly light cross-spoke forged wheels with fully
integrated wheel bolt covers. The forged wheels painted in matt black
with high-sheen rim flanges are fitted with tyres in standard size
265/35 R 19 on 9 x 19 (front) and 295/30 R 20 on 11 x 20 (rear). This
wheel/tyre combination is also optionally available to customers for the
Mercedes-AMG GT and the GT S.
The high-performance ceramic
composite braking system is also available as an option for the
road-going version of the GT. The advantages of this system are lower
weight, a longer service life and even better fade resistance thanks to
the ceramic brake discs with a diameter of 402 millimetres at the front
and 360 millimetres at the rear.